Stop digging: DC after student’s death

Guwahati: A day after a girl student in the city was crushed under the rear wheels of a school bus after the scooter in which she was going to school skidded due to a unmarked obstruction from debris created from digging of earth to lay water supply pipes in the city, the Kamrup metro district authorities on Friday ordered an immediate stop to all kinds of digging on the roads.The order from deputy commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said it has been observed that several accidents have occurred in recent times causing loss of lives and properties of people “due to unprotected trenches/potholes/open manholes dug by different agencies” in different roads, which also have caused “hardship and inconvenience” to people.“If such tranches are not protected by barricade or repaired immediately, such incidents may continue to occur in near future. With the ensuing rainy season, chances of such incidents has increased manifold causing threat to the lives and properties of the public in general,” the order said.The order states “considering, the seriousness of the issue” there is “immediate necessity to direct the concerned departments like PWD (R), Guwahati Jal Board, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Guwahati Smart City Ltd. to immediately stop all kinds of digging. The departments are also directed to make proper barricading, display of visible signage in the already lugged up tranches.”The departments and agencies have asked to submit the compliance report along with photographs within 24 hours to the deputy commissioner.Thursday’s accident took place around 7.30 am on Secretariat Road, outside the Dispur capital complex, near Ganesh Mandir.CCTV footage showed that the Class XI student, Priya Kumari, was on the pillion seat of a scooter, driven by her elder sister, which skidded after hitting the piled-up debris dug by the Guwahati Jal Board for laying water pipelines a few days ago and was left open without any barricade. A school bus passing by at that moment ran over Priya. Her sister survived with injuries. She was later taken to a hospital by the police.
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